Ridley Scott has been making classic movies for half a century, and while he’s been nominated four times for an Oscar, he’s yet to win one in his career. That unlucky streak could change with his next movie, a book-to-screen adaptation of the novel The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, coming out later this year. We’re still way too far away from the 99th Academy Awards to make predictions, but from the sound of it, this genre project might be a serious contender.
There is one big reason that I think Scott's new movie, which admittedly we don't know a ton about, could get him at least to the ceremony with a shot to win. Plus, it's not like having Frankenstein's Jacob Elordi in the starring role is going to hurt a single bit.
The Dog Stars Is Sci-Fi, Not Historical
Across his long career, many (though hardly all) of Scott’s movies can fit into two categories: historical dramas and science fiction. He is much better at making the latter. [Don't come at me, history bros.]
Scott’s list of sci-fi movies includes some of the best the genre has ever seen, like Blade Runner, Alien, The Martian, and Alien: Covenant. Those first two alone are giants in the genre, still revered today, decades after they were first released.
On the other hand, when he tries to go out and win an Oscar, I have to say, I’m usually disappointed. I’m talking about historical dramas like 2023’s Napoleon, 2024’s Gladiator II, and the absolutely abysmal 1492: Conquest of Paradise, released in concert with the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first trip to the Americas. I love Ridley Scott’s work on the whole, but I can’t stand any of those movies (though some may and do disagree). He’s a master at science fiction (and crime dramas), and his historical works have at least as much fiction in them.
Let’s Be Real, Scott Deserves One
Scott has been nominated for Best Director three times, earning his first nomination for Thelma & Louise in 1992, but losing to Jonathan Demme for The Silence of the Lambs. His next nomination came in 2001 for Gladiator, which won five Oscars including Best Picture, but none for Scott himself, as Steven Soderbergh took home Best Director for Traffic. His most recent – and this is hard to believe – came back in 2002 for Black Hawk Down, but he lost that year to Ron Howard and A Beautiful Mind. Scott earned a fourth Oscar nomination as a producer of The Martian in 2016, but it lost in the Best Picture category to Spotlight.
It’s crazy to think that the guy who made all those movies, plus classics like Blade Runner, Alien, Matchstick Men, and American Gangster, hasn’t won an Oscar. Sure, he’s had some duds along the way, but when you’re cranking out a movie every one or two years, there are bound to be a few that don’t land. When Scott does land one, though, it’s great. AS I said in the beginning, having Jacob Elordi, coming off his Oscar nomination at the 98th Academy Awards last month, will only help.
I hope The Dog Stars, coming this summer to the 2026 movie schedule, is one of those. I’d love to see him up on that stage accepting a gold statue, and let’s be honest, Scott is nearly 90-years-old, so who knows how many more films he has left in him. He deserves an Oscar.
